


Sunflowers and Ocean Views

by DarlingStarryEyes



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bilingual, Bilingual Character(s), Bisexual Character, Character Development, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, French Characters, Height Differences, Long-Term Relationship(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Character, Slow Build, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 02:26:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15720051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarlingStarryEyes/pseuds/DarlingStarryEyes
Summary: Cher has had it with her city life. Typing on the computer all day just wasn't for her, even if she was good at her job. Now that she has finally inherited her late grandfather's farm, Cher has to figure out the way of life here, in more ways than one.





	1. Authors Note

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note chapter up ahead :) Feel free to skip it

Hello everyone! I'm Starry, and this is the beginning of my Stardew Valley fanfic! Sorry for the authors note being the beginning of the story, but I like getting these out of the way before I start for anyone who would like vague info on the story and writing itself.

First, I'll start off with saying that I am an experienced writer, but I don't do it often anymore, so some chapters may be a bit weird. Please excuse me if they are. Also, I am a student, so updates will be slow.

I want this to be long and slowly built up, so for anyone who likes those, you're in luck! I'm also going to try and develop the characters as much as I can.

This won't be your typical "Wow I worked at a desk for years, but I'm automatically good at farm work" story. The MC is a tiny ass office worker and barely knows how to do everything here. She'll learn though!

Haha, now that everything is out of the way, please enjoy Sunflowers and Ocean Views :)


	2. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cher is tired of the city life, so she moves onto her passed grandfather's old farm to start a new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read my authors note in the first chapter if you're interested in knowing about how the story will be written and about updates.
> 
> Also, please remember that the story will be slowly built up, so it won't be too exciting until we get a few chapters into it, aka when Cher meets her love interest :)

The bus ride to Pelican Town was painfully silent, even for the girl who loved nothing more than to not speak to people. The reflection of her shining dark blonde hair through the window clouded the trees and cityscape she passed on her way to her new home, making it hard to realize that she had already gotten there. She wondered how long the trip took, considering she had been zoned out basically the whole time. 

Cher was a bit nervous about seeing the town again. She hadn't seen the place since she was a kid, and even then she never explored the place due to being shy. Only two vague memories of helping her grandfather pluck tomatoes from his fenced off garden and receiving her letter while he was on his death bed remained. To be honest, she completely forgot about the letter until her sat at her old desk, rubbing her aching fingers for only a moment before she planned to continue her accounting work. It was like a miracle that she crossed paths with that letter once more.

Pushing her bobbed hair out from the front her large, dorky glasses, Cher heaved a sigh and stood from her seat to collect her bags. She only grabbed her personal items, due to the offer the bus driver had given her. Since she was the only passenger, he offered to take her other bags to her home, an offer that a petite girl like her couldn't refuse. She would probably be winded with just her heavy carry-ons. How was she expected to take care of a farm for the rest of her life with a build like hers?

There was nothing she could do about it now, Cher supposed. After all, this was all she had gotten out of grandfathers will, and she wasn't particularly good at many other skills besides teaching and accounting. She should be grateful for such a huge and precious gift from the father figure in her life.

What she wasn't expecting however, was to be greeted by two people right away.  Cher had only just stepped out of the bus and people had started speaking with her. Suddenly, she wished to be back with the silence within the bus. Though despite her wishes, the girl smiled back and introduced herself to the two in front of her.

"You must be the Mayor I contacted a while ago. I'm Cher, the new, er, the new farmer," An embarrassed chuckled passed though her thin lips as she tried to shake off that small stutter. A great way to introduce yourself, sure. They didn't seem to notice, however and continued on with the conversation like nothing had happened.

"It's great to finally see you again, Ms. Cher," The Mayor greeted with a bubbly smile. He seemed old, probably old enough to have known her grandfather. His note did mention that his friend was the Mayor, but that was so long ago that she didn't know if it was the same person, "I remember when you were just a little girl, clinging onto the flowers that I brought to you when you spent your first summer here. Ah, I suppose you don't remember that, you were so young."

"Really dating yourself there, Lewis," The redhead beside him teased, putting a firm grip onto his shoulder. She seemed a bit muscular, the exact opposite of Cher. A small feeling of discouragement crept up her spine, though she tried her hardest to ignore it, "I'm Robin, the town carpenter. You can come to me if you ever need me to build something on your farm. I also sell materials so you can do some stuff on your own."

Friendly was the first word that came to mind. She hoped that everyone here was friendly, like these two. With a small town like this, there were bound to be a few grumps, but Cher hoped for the best. After all, it couldn't be that bad, right?

After a bit of chatting, the four of them began to walk past the bus stop and towards her new property. It was a short walk, which was convenient considering the excitement of travelling had worn down a while ago. Sure enough, her place was cozy and small, sort of like her old apartment. The place was overgrown, but in a few days to a week, she could maybe have it cleared, if she was lucky. 

A few insults from Robin and some suggestions from Lewis later, Cher was finally alone once more, left to her own duties of cleaning up her home and trying to settle in. It was clear that she had a lot of work to do, which made settling down a bit harder than she would've liked. The small bits of greenery in the home made it a bit comforting however. 

Deciding to decorate to take her mind off of the crippling stress crawling onto her shoulders, Cher was quick to begin to unpack her decor and start working. The first step of settling in was to make it feel like home, at least that's what her mother told her. Not that Cher would know herself, considering she lived in the same three places for her whole live, two of those being her apartment and college dorm room. This was at least a bit more homey to her than her past houses. 

String lights, files, books, and even a fake plant were some of the essentials in her home. Sunflowers were always her favorite, so it was obvious that she kept a few fake ones in a vase at almost all times. The other things were also things she needed or wanted to have, which wasn't really a bad thing. The only bad thing was that, even with the new decor, she was still a bit timid and paranoid about being here. She was never the greatest when it came to living alone, especially in unknown places.

With the jet lag and all of her negative feelings pouring down on her, Cher was exhausted. It was only mid-day, but she felt like she could sleep for a week. With heavy eyelids and slumped shoulders, it didn't take very long for her to crash onto the bed. At this point, she didn't even complain about the firm mattress, which was something she normally hated. At least, for now, she tried her best to comfortably sleep, pushing away all of her thoughts clouding her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! Criticism and feedback is encouraged, but please be respectful when commenting! Again, please read the first chapter if you are interested in knowing at least a bit about the story and how I'll be handling things.


	3. To Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enough time relaxing, time for Cher to get to work on the farm!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I hope you guys enjoy this one! If you'd like to see a photo reference of Cher, my friend @theartoffallenstars on instagram is currently working on a drawing of her!  
> Also, in this, the MC is on the forest farm, not the standard. I only do that farm, so it seemed best for me to write it with this one.
> 
> Also, Cher's name is pronounced as share.
> 
> Enjoy!

Farming was not her thing, not at all.

It wasn't Cher's fault that she rarely came here as a child. To be honest, she never had much of an interest in it, but she would much prefer that to forestry, which her grandfather seemed to love considering his farm had a forest on the side of it. The trees looked strong, something her axe and her scrawny arms couldn't handle chopping down. 

Cher couldn't understand how her grandfather ever got things done around here with the weak tools and small bag he left for her. Her backpack was almost filled with just her tools and the packets of seeds that the Mayor gave her shoved into it. She guessed that she could buy a new one after she raised up some money.

 

For now, the girl was wheezing as she tried to catch her breath. Her axe was shakily held in her left hand, the long handle leaning against her shoulder for some support. Cher wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she looked around the farm. She surprisingly got two trees down, but when she came across a large trunk of a tree, she realized that she was much weaker than she originally thought.

"How did that man do it?" Cher whispered to herself, looking curiously at the barely dented tree trunk before her. Her eyebrows furrowed out of frustration, and without thinking, she kicked the chunk of wood. It hurt her foot more than the tree, to say the least, "God fucking damn it! How am I supposed to get anything done in this place?"

"You will be able to do it eventually, Cher! You just need to get some more exercise in!" A familiar voice spoke from the entrance of her farm, which she was relatively close to herself. Cher's head shot in the direction of the voice to see Robin, the woman that she had met the day before, holding a takeout box that you would normally get at a restaurant when you couldn't finish your food. She seemed cheerful, despite the early time.

Robin walked over to Cher and handed her the white box, all with a happy smile painted on her face. Cher couldn't even imagine her mad with how happy she appeared every time she saw the woman. With furrowed eyebrows, she looked down at the box as she hesitantly took it from the other woman's hands. Wondering what was inside, she lifted the box to see delicious looking spaghetti, seemingly made with fresh ingredients.

"I made spaghetti for my family last night, but my son ate out with his friend, so I had extra," Robin told her. Cher hummed an answer, nodding as she spoke to her. She didn't expect her to be a mother, but she guessed she shouldn't assume. She was probably a fun mom, "You're not much of a talker, huh? My son isn't either. You two might get along."

"I don't talk unless I feel the need to," Cher answered, setting the box down on the tree stump so she could put her tools away. Once finished, she grabbed it once more and smiled shyly back at the taller woman, "Thank you for the food. From the looks of it, your son is missing out."

Robin chuckled out of slight embarrassment, dismissing the compliment with ease. Finished with what she needed to do, the redhead dismissed herself to go back to her shop and left, going through the front entrance to head through town. Cher sighed of relief as soon as she was out of sight. Robin was right, she wasn't a talker at all, even to the point where it tired her out.

Knowing that she needed to continue work, Cher let out a soft groan. Did she regret her decision to come here? Maybe a bit.

Deciding that that was enough wood chopping for the day, Cher dug out the packets of seeds that the Mayor gave to her from the top of her backpack. Parsnips were easy to grow, right? With furrowed eyebrows, the woman began to read the instructions on the back of the bag, walking towards the small clearing in front of her cabin. This would be the best spot for her to keep her garden while she continued clearing out the overgrown fields. 

 

Needless to say, growing parsnips was harder than she thought at first. There was a lot to do with just planting them. So many requirements were needed just to do so. They needed a certain amount of spacing, depth in the soil, and amount of water. Not even her accounting degree could help her in this situation. 

Thankfully however, Cher managed to finish it. Even if all of the work she had done today took over 12 hours, she still managed to complete it all. Now, she needed a drink, preferably of something carbonated. A Sprint could do her some wonders right about now.

Putting away her things, Cher opted towards going into town to see if she could find a place where she could buy a drink or two. Maybe she could also heat up that spaghetti and have it for dinner. Yeah, that's what she was going to do for the night. With the lack of food she's had the last few days, she could afford to go all out today. 

The journey into town was a slightly stressful one. With her lack of knowledge of the town and her extreme fear of the dark, Cher was a wreak by the time she found an open building. A saloon wasn't something she expected to find, but bars normally had some soda, so this would possibly be the only place she could go for her midnight cravings. 

After taking a few moments to mentally prepare herself for social interaction, Cher stepped into the slightly busy saloon. She didn't expect it to be too busy, considering it was such a small town and it was a Monday night. It was nice and calm, thankfully enough. However, the amount of eyes on her as she walked inside was not pleasant at all. Surely Lewis had told the town of her arrival, right? 

Either way, the curious look plastered on everyone's faces made Cher extremely uncomfortable. She always hated staring, especially when she had just gotten somewhere. It was plain to see that she just wanted to shrink into a ball right there, which, to her relief, made some people back off. The people here were kind, alright. 

"You must be the new farmer! No need to be shy, come on in!" A cheerful voice rang out from behind the counter. Her enthusiasm was radiating through the saloon, even making the grumpy-looking man at one of the tables smile softly. Cher nodded at the woman and walked near the register. A plump man with an artisan mustache smiled at her from the other side and placed a hand on the counter.

"You're Cher, right? The good Mayor told us all about you," the man spoke happily, grinning from ear-to-ear, "I'm Gus, the owner of the saloon, and that's my employee, Emily. You're welcome here anytime! Now, what can I get you?"

"Do you guys sell Sprints here? If so, may I get one to go please?" Cher asked softly, shying away from the people here. She was well spoken, sure, but being around people made her anxious to the point where she even took medication for it. The people behind the counter didnt seem to notice and speedily brought her the soda she asked for, "Th-thank you."

"No problem. Anything else?" Gus asked as he began to ring up the soda. Cher shook her head as she reached out of the glass bottle. The clear, bubbly drink was cold to the touch, which seemed perfect after all of the labor she did that day. After paying, the girl rushed out of the saloon with quiet words of parting. She didn't want to be in there for longer than she needed to.

The walk back home was as silent as the walk there. The town wasn't very busy during the night, which was refreshing in its own way. The silence made her realize that she should probably introduce herself soon, making her already fast-paced heartbeat run even faster. Baby steps, she supposed. She didn't need to talk to everyone tomorrow, right? Would someone take it as rude? 

Cher assumed not and tried her best to think of something else. She moved her glass drink to her other hand as she walked up the steps of her cabin and slipped inside. She was mentally prepared to eat and pass out after the day she had. There was nothing better to end a long day with a good dinner near the fireplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the amount of dialogue lmao. I headcanon some of the townies as talkative people, ( like Sam, Robin, Alex, Emily, etc, ) so it was bound to happen. I'll try to balance it out with a good amount of alone time on Cher's part, or even sitting in awkward silence with Seb.


End file.
